Between one and three thousand Moscow opposition protesters gathered today at Sakharov Square to remember the "victims" of dispersal of an unauthorized rally on Bolotnaya Square, which took place five years ago and masterminded by opposition figures, with Western advisers.

Although the campaign drew a varied audience (nationalists, LGBT activists), but the tone was set by the Liberals. All speakers voiced that "repression" has a long history in Russia. The participants chanted "Russia without Putin!"

One of the members of political party "Yabloko", Sergei Mitrokhin, went so far as to say that "because of the regime, Russia may lose the Crimea" - let's recall, that it was under Putin that the Crimea voiced its desire to rejoin the Federation.

"If Russia does not obtain a civil society, it will be a disaster. The memory of Crimea becoming Russia will be a bittersweet - because Russia will no longer have Siberia or the Far East, if this governance continues", - said Mitrokhin.

This statement is somewhat distracting from the overall tone of speeches, because the Liberals are known to oppose the reunification with Crimea - who, in a majority vote, expressed their will to join the Russian Federation.

Ed: The Liberal movement in Russia, although small, represents a desire to more or less abide by Western foreign policy. When these movements are sanctioned and do not hold illegal rallies, they are not subdued by the authorities, contrary to Western media portrayal. These protests of the minority tend to unite other factions of Russian civil society around the government at hand. Is this not democracy at its best?